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Fat people blamed for global warming By Patrick Sawer Last Updated: 8:52AM BST 17/05/2008As if they didn’t already have enough problems on their hands fat people are now being blamed for global warming. British scientists say they use up more fuel to transport them around and the amount of food they eat requires more energy to produce than that consumed by those on smaller diets. According to a team at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine this adds to food shortages and higher energy prices. Researchers Phil Edwards said: “We are all becoming heavier and it is a...

I am ashamed to admit that I had never heard of Irena Sendler, whose obituary appeared in this morning’s paper. Hers is an awesomely humbling story, even by the standards of her heroic generation. A Polish Catholic, she spirited some 2,500 Jewish children out of the Warsaw ghetto, displaying casual and extraordinary courage. She kept a list of the children she had saved, hoping one day to reunite them with their parents – although, in the event, almost all lost their families in Treblinka. In 1943, she was arrested by the Gestapo and tortured. Her legs and feet were broken,...

Washington, May 15 (ANI): Global warming may lead to an increase in kidney stones disease, says a new study. Dehydration has been linked to stone disease, mainly in warmer climates, and global warming will worsen this effect, according to the researchers. As a result, the prevalence of stone disease may increase, along with the costs of treating the condition. Using published data to determine the temperature-dependence of stone disease, researchers applied predictions of temperature increase to determine the impact of global warming on the incidence and cost of stone disease in the United States. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change...

Procreation is killing the planet, and traditional religion is to blame, Global-Warming cultists insist. First the industrial revolution had to go. Then it was to the wall with oil company executives, those malignant Carbon Interests. Next, SUVs were declared enemies of the planet. Now, the left’s attention has shifted back to its perennial targets – large families and “patriarchal” religion. In a commentary in the April 21st. edition of USATODAY (“Might our religion be killing us?”), Oliver “Buzz” Thomas quotes the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change -- a tool of the global village idiots at the United Nations -- to...

The highly-respected Lausanne-based Institute for Management Development (IMD) has just issued its 20th anniversary ‘World Competitiveness Yearbook 2008’ [see: ‘Britain slips down key economic league table’, The Times, May 14/15]. It is not a pleasant read for the UK. In this annual assessment of national competitiveness, the UK has fallen one place from twentieth, to twenty-first, having been overtaken by Israel. But, more significantly, the IMD report downgrades the UK’s position against its global rivals on the crucial factor of economic performance, from seventh out of 55 countries to an alarming sixteenth. And the cause of this decline? Yes, you...

Take McCain at his word. If he now has eco friendy items in his online store, it would follow that the other items are not eco friendly and are killing the planet. Call on McCain to remove the planet killing items from his store....If he wants to join the greens, he has to go all the way.

Big snow equals big lines, but avy hazards linger. It ain’t over ‘til it’s over. That’s what diehard skiers are saying this year, milking every last drop of pleasure from a a winter that just won’t seem to end... some of the best skiing of the season ... where winter-like snow lingers in the steepest notches and chutes. The relatively dense spring snow settles more quickly than mid-winter powder, and this is prime-time for the hike-to terrain. “It was sweet,” Local backcountry skiers are talking about big lines on big peaks, with solid top-to-bottom coverage on favorites like Buffalo Mountain...

Obese people are contributing to the world food crisis and climate change, experts say. The London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine calculated the obese consume 18% more calories than average. They are also responsible for using more fuel, which has an environmental impact and drives up food prices as transport and agriculture both use oil. The result is that the poor struggle to afford food and greenhouse gas emissions rise, the Lancet reported. It comes as the World Health Organization predicts the obese population will double by 2015 to 700m. In the UK, nearly a quarter of adults are...

Obesity contributes to global warming: study Michael Kahn, Reuters Published: Thursday, May 15, 2008 GENEVA (Reuters) - Obesity contributes to global warming, too. Obese and overweight people require more fuel to transport them and the food they eat, and the problem will worsen as the population literally swells in size, a team at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine says. This adds to food shortages and higher energy prices, the school's researchers Phil Edwards and Ian Roberts wrote in the journal Lancet on Friday. "We are all becoming heavier and it is a global responsibility," Edwards said in...

MOUNT St. HELENS, Wash. - On May 18, 1980, the once bucolic ice-cream cone shape that defined Mount St. Helens in Washington state disappeared in monstrous blast of ash, rock, gas, and heat. ... And inside the volcano, which was once a soft dome of snow but is now a gaping, steaming menace with an unpredictable streak, an unexpected phenomenon is taking place: a glacier is growing. ... But Walder cautions that a glacier inside a volcano leads a tenuous existence. A surge in volcanic activity, especially an eruption, could melt away the glacier in the space of a day,...

This past month was the coolest April in 11 years for the lower 48 United States, and fell into the lowest twenty-five percent of all Aprils based on records going back to 1895, according to an analysis by NOAA's national Climatic Data Center in Asheville, N.C. The average April temperature, 51°F, during April was one degree below the 20th century mean, and was the 29th coolest, or 86th warmest, based on preliminary data. The combined average global land and ocean surface temperatures for April ranked 13th warmest since worldwide records began in 1880. U.S. Temperature Highlights Fifteen states, all in...

Climate Change: Legislation pending in the Senate might warm environmentalists' hearts, but not because of potential cuts in carbon emissions. Their interest is in the heavy economic costs the plans would inflict.Each bill uses the cap-and-trade scheme to control carbon dioxide emissions. Each establishes limits, then prescribes how to distribute or sell to the private sector the rights to emit specific amounts of greenhouse gases under the cap. The bill sponsored by Sens. Jeff Bingaman, D-N.M., and Arlen Specter, R-Pa., is the least egregious. It would force greenhouse gas emissions to be cut to about 3% below last year's level....

-Now that another Earth Day has come and gone, let's look at some environmentalist predictions that they would prefer we forget. At the first Earth Day celebration, in 1969, environmentalist Nigel Calder warned, "The threat of a new ice age must now stand alongside nuclear war as a likely source of wholesale death and misery for mankind." C.C. Wallen of the World Meteorological Organization said, "The cooling since 1940 has been large enough and consistent enough that it will not soon be reversed." In 1968, Paul Ehrlich, Vice President Gore's hero and mentor, predicted there would be a major food...

Protesters demonstrated Thursday against a coal-powered power plant proposed by Alliant Energy Corp. at Cassville, heartened by an environmental impact statement by state officials that said the proposed plant was "not the least cost option under any scenario." That statement, in a draft EIS by the Public Service Commission and the Department of Natural Resources, fueled protests by more than 70 environmentalists -- some on bicycles -- chanting "No more coal," prior to Alliant's annual shareholder meeting at the Alliant Energy Center. Protesters were joined by Thomas Sanzillo, a financial analyst who said that coal prices are likely to rise...

Worried about gas prices hitting $4 a gallon and beyond? Imagine if they were $6, $7 or even $8 a gallon. Those levels are a certain possibility should Congress pass cap-and-trade legislation, which could face a vote in early June. Oil is trading at record levels, in excess of $120 a barrel. Leading Republican Sens. James Inhofe (Okla.) and Jeff Sessions (Ala.) both told the Business & Media Institute (BMI) energy prices would drastically increase if the Lieberman-Warner Climate Security Act (S. 2191) is signed into law. “The studies show it would be directly affected, would be a $1.50 a...

While no one knows who first uttered the sentiment "It’s better to say nothing and seem a fool than to open your mouth and remove all doubt," Republican presidential hopeful John McCain’s speech this week on climate change certainly supports the phrase’s validity. McCain spoke at the facilities of Vestas Wind Technology, an Oregon-based firm that manufactures wind-power systems. The irony of the setting was rich given McCain’s outspoken opposition to pork-barrel spending. He even risked his presidential hopes by criticizing ethanol subsidies ahead of the all-important Iowa caucuses. Next to solar power, however, wind power is the most heavily...

Republicans Discount Global Warming McCain, Bush At Odds With Most Of Party POSTED: 2:15 pm EDT May 15, 2008 UPDATED: 2:46 pm EDT May 15, 2008 The proportion of Americans who say that the earth is getting warmer has decreased modestly since January 2007, mostly because of a decline among Republicans, according to a new survey by the Pew Research Center. That puts most Republicans at odds with their standard-bearer, President George W. Bush, and with GOP presidential contender Sen. John McCain. Both men said this week global warming is real and must be addressed. Republicans are increasingly skeptical that...

Al Gore says global warming is an inconvenient truth. “Inconvenient” adds a clever twist to the name of the would-be president’s popular documentary and book. But far worthier of scrutiny is the other word in the title: “Truth.” Man-made global warming, says the former politician and a rising sea of climate alarmists, is not just inconvenient, it’s an unequivocal, undeniable truth. In fact, the truth about global warming is so convincing that “debate in the scientific community is over.” Says who? Well, the United Nations for starters. On February 2 last year, the United Nations issued a press release highlighting...

It's been a swell few months for the Republican base since John McCain wrapped up the nomination. Democrats have disemboweled themselves in a titanic clash that pits Barack Obama's hope against Hillary Clinton's history. The Clintons have shown their true colors in helping voters to see Obama's. Republicans have reunited in a way that was unthinkable just months ago, although, as McCain told me this week, there's still "re-energizing to do." Monday's global warming speech at Vestas Wind Technology likely won't help. Then, again, it probably wasn't supposed to. Re-energizing the base is so primary season. Monday was the start...

Gore Financially Invested in Climate Cause By Fred Lucas CNSNews.com Staff Writer May 14, 2008 (CNSNews.com) - Weeks before announcing a $300-million, three-year advertising campaign to raise awareness about global warming, Al Gore was conducting a slide show for a group of investors in Monterey, Calif., touting companies such as Bloom Energy, Amryis , Mascoma and other firms that are not household names -- yet. These bio-fuel and green technology firms could be poised to take off, Gore told his audience. "Here are just a few of the investments I personally think make sense," he said during the March 1...

What about Al? There is a rumor among those close to the Obama camp that this weekend will bring a big endorsement for the Illinois Senator. We can scratch John Edwards off that list, he is yesterday's news. Probably the only thing 'bigger' than Edwards would be former Vice-President Al Gore -- who will be in Pittsburgh this Sunday (May 18) to give the commencement speech at Carnegie Mellon University. Gore, after his unsuccessful run for president in 2000, took an environmental path, rather than political, and has become a cult-like figure among the left and environmentally correct.

If everyone from Al Gore to Newt Gingrich thinks global warming is indeed a serious problem. Why aren't they and the media allowing the opposing views to be given? The scientists who disagree with them are seldom seen or heard from. Why? Repercussions? That there has been a virtual black out on the opposing view is troubling to me.

In an effort to win over those "moderates" who believe that global warming is about to destroy the planet, Republican presidential candidate John McCain spoke Monday at a Portland, Ore., training facility for Vestas Wind Technology. He claimed, "The facts of global warming demand our urgent attention, especially in Washington." There certainly is more "hot air" on this and a lot of other subjects in Washington, but that isn't what he meant. The era of big government is so not over, as Bill Clinton claimed it was in 1996. It is just beginning and increasingly the political contests seem to...

The Bush Administration named the polar bear to the “threatened species” list based on computer predictions of the anticipated loss of sea ice due to global warming Tuesday. “Computer models predict sea ice is likely to recede in the future,” said Department of Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne. “They [polar bears] are in my judgment likely to become endangered in the foreseeable future, in this case 45 years.” Kempthorne used a series of slides showing images of decrease polar sea ice while making his announcement. They are available here. The polar bear’s classification as “threatened” is a step below “endangered”—a classification...

HOBBS -- Sen. Pete Domenici will be featured speaker at a national energy policy conference May 27 at the Lea County Event Center titled "The Making of Energy Policy: Where Are We Going?" The conference is sponsored by New Mexico Tech, the Economic Development Corporation of Lea County, and the New Mexico Center for Energy Policy. Co-sponsors are the United States Chamber of Commerce and the American Petroleum Institute. NMCEP, operated by New Mexico Tech, is organizing the conference, the group said in a news release. Registration will begin at 10 a.m., followed at 11:30 a.m. by a welcome and...

This week John McCain proclaimed the need to solve global warming using economic principles. George W. Bush declared that global warming has been proven. In fact, it seems like the mindless, irrational, Global Warming belief is a characteristic of all the RINOs. I am getting rather annoyed by the mindless caving to the liberal lies. In fact, all who promote the need to solve global warming are, in my humble opinion, hoodwinked opportunists. There is no science of cause and effect that runs from human activity to increased temperature. The so called increased temperature is highly suspect. And the cause...

Regulation: The Interior Department ruled Wednesday that the polar bear will be protected as a threatened species. Why special treatment for an animal whose population has more than doubled over the last 50 years?Because it's politically correct. The polar bear has become such a beloved icon that even a pro-development Republican secretary of the Interior can't muster the courage to say no to the forces of environmentalism. The polar bear is more than just a cuddly looking beast that roams the Arctic region. It's a wishbone in the fight between misanthropic activists determined to send the developed world back a...

If Secretary of the Interior Kempthorne announces that the polar bear is now officially "threatened," the impacts on the American economy will be extreme and almost certainly not anticipated or understood by the public at large.The Endangered Species Act operates in a very unaccountable fashion, and if the polar bear is listed as a "threatened" species, every federal action --the grant of a permit, the award of a grant-- that leads even indirectly to the emission of greenhouse gases will come under at least the theoretical review of the United States Fish & Wildlife Service pursuant to Section 7 of...

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Secretary of the Interior Dirk Kempthorne today announced that he is accepting the recommendation of U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Director Dale Hall to list the polar bear as a threatened species under the Endangered Species Act (ESA).  The listing is based on the best available science, which shows that loss of sea ice threatens and will likely continue to threaten polar bear habitat.  This loss of habitat puts polar bears at risk of becoming endangered in the foreseeable future, the standard established by the ESA for designating a threatened species. In making the announcement, Kempthorne said,...

A FEDERAL judge in Cal ifornia last month or dered the Interior De partment to decide by this Friday whether to list polar bears as a threatened species because of global warming. It's a fine chance for the Bush administration to stand up for common-sense environmentalism and sound science. You see, polar bears are thriving - and will do so under all but the most speculative scenarios of global-warming apocalypse. Any "threatened" listing would be absurd. The case started with a lawsuit filed by Greenpeace and the Natural Resources Defense Council in 2005. To settle it, the Fish and Wildlife...

Inhofe Says Listing of Polar Bear Based on Politics, Not Science Wednesday, May 14, 2008 Contact:   Marc Morano 202-224-5762 marc_morano@epw.senate.gov Matt Dempsey 202-224-9797 matthew_dempsey@epw.senate.gov      Inhofe Says Listing of Polar Bear Based on Politics, Not Science “With the number of polar bears substantially up over the past forty years, the decision announced today appears to be based entirely on unproven computer models.” WASHINGTON, DC – Sen. James Inhofe (R-Okla.), Ranking Member of the Environment and Public Works Committee, today expressed disappointment with the U.S. Department of Interior's final decision to list the polar bear as “threatened” under the Endangered...

US lists polar bear as threatened species By H. JOSEF HEBERT, Associated Press Writer 3 minutes ago Government officials say the Interior Department has decided to protect the polar bear as a threatened species because of global warming. The officials told The Associated Press the bears are threatened by the decline in Arctic sea ice. They spoke on condition of anonymity because the official announcement was to come from Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne. He scheduled a news conference Wednesday. The action comes a day before a court-imposed deadline on deciding whether the bear should be put under the protection of...

The ice core boring at Dome C in Antarctica shows that the curves for the temperature and the greenhouse gases carbon dioxide and methane follow each other over the past 800,000 years -- with few deviations. (See arrows) Credit: Professor Thomas Blunier, Centre for Ice and Climate, Niels Bohr Institute, University of Copenhagen The newest analysis of trace gases trapped in Antarctic ice cores now provide a reasonable view of greenhouse gas concentrations as much as 800,000 years into the past, and are further confirming the link between greenhouse gas levels and global warming, scientists reported today in the...

Obama and his Kentucky cross TRIBUNE-REVIEW By Salena Zito Chris Brody, the senior national correspondent for Christian Broadcast Network (CBN), is reporting Sen. Barack Obama has a flier for next week’s primary contest in Kentucky that shows Obama standing with a substantial-sized cross to his left. Brody writes that Obama “is making a direct appeal to evangelicals with fliers that mention his conversion experience and they highlight a big old cross. Remember (Gov.) Mike Huckabee’s supposed subliminal cross in his Christmas campaign ad? Well, Obama campaign ditches

It’s not enough for the media to try to brainwash the public the Earth is in peril due to global warming. Now they’re telling you what to eat. This is something you might expect to hear at a PETA rally, but instead it was ABC’s May 13 “World News with Charles Gibson” telling you to curb your beef consumption to lower greenhouse gas emissions. “You are staring into the face of one thing scientists say you can do to fight climate change,” ABC correspondent Dan Harris said as the face of a cow filled the screen. “Leave this cow alone...

In his climate speech on Monday, Mr. McCain exhibited (as the press usually does) a complete lack of consciousness of the fact that evidence of warming is not evidence of what causes warming. Yet policy must be a matter of costs and benefits, adjusted for the uncertainties involved. Which brings us to today's irony: He who finds a six-figure earmark an affront to humanity is prepared to wave through a trillion-dollar climate bill without, as far as anyone can tell, a single systematic thought about costs and benefits. He who sees "corruption" behind every campaign check goes all compliant when...

It is really amazing to watch. You can make money on this: whenever politicians or church leaders glom on to a concept, it’s over. John McCain has fastened on the global warming hoax like a remora. It’s not just bad for the economy, for freedom and for the environment, it’s also incredibly bad timing for “Maverick” John McCain. Holman Jenkins points out in the Wall Street Journal: And yet every journalistic tendril senses that the fuss over warming is about to cool. Global mean temperatures have been flat for a decade. The biofuel folly has chased away any easy belief...

If Republicans are going to be stampeded by phony environmental alarms and propose terrible public policies in the name of these scams, what the hell do we need Democrats for? America is so far gone in the global warming superstition that the Republican candidate for president (the REPUBLICAN!) is proposing a Soviet scheme to take decisions about energy use out of the private sector where they belong and turn them over to politicians and bureaucrats. If there's a quicker way to make America into a Third World nation, pray tell me what it is.

WASHINGTON - With concerns about global warming rising along with the planet's temperature, the head of the federal agency in change of weather research and forecasting is proposing creation of a new National Climate Service. Conrad C. Lautenbacher said Tuesday a climate service within his agency could combine data from the research and analysis work done by several agencies, as well as coordinate climate information for the government. "In the future I think it would make a lot of sense for us to separate the science from the political furball of policy," he said. Lautenbacher is head of the National...

Sir Paul McCartney was furious when his new eco-friendly car was delivered by jet. The £84,000 hybrid Lexus limousine - a gift to the former Beatle from the manufacturers to thank Paul for promoting green cars - was flown from Japan to Britain, creating a carbon footprint almost 100 times bigger than if it was shipped.

ALBUQUERQUE — Scores of city officials and environmental policy leaders from across the country will gather in Albuquerque this week to discuss the latest technologies and policies for dealing with climate change at the local level. -snip- - Albuquerque, for example, made a major mistake last year in calculating emissions, an error that prompted the firing of the city's chief environmental health official and forced it to shut down a web site that touted success in reducing greenhouse gases that turned out to be way off the mark.

Former Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee is at the top of the list of John McCain’s possible running mates, according to a top McCain fundraiser with ties to his inner circle. Economic conservatives are likely to oppose the choice of Huckabee as McCain’s vice presidential candidate, given the populist tone of his campaign and his tax record as governor of Arkansas. But in his “Capital Commerce” column for U.S. News & World Report, James Pethokoukis points to the fundraiser’s disclosure and cites several factors that could make Huckabee a strong asset for McCain. For one thing, the former Baptist minister...

Senator McCain gave a speech in Portland, Oregon Monday reiterating and explaining his longstanding support for a “cap-and-trade” approach to global warming. He proposes that the government require reductions in greenhouse-gas emissions but allow companies to trade emissions credits, supposedly creating an efficient, market-based distribution of the regulatory burden. Support for this policy is the biggest mistake his campaign has made so far. Early in this speech, Sen. McCain ran through a litany of woes that we can expect from global warming: “reduced water supplies, more forest fires than in previous decades, changes in crop production, more heat waves afflicting...

5 hours ago ROME (AFP) — The Etna volcano in Sicily rumbled back to life on Tuesday with a "seismic event" followed by a burst of ash, volcanologists said three days after minor eruptions shook the cone. A "seismic event provoking a strong explosion was recorded Tuesday at 0424 GMT (6:42 am local) in parts of the peak of the volcano," the National Geophysics and Vulcanology Institute in Sicily's Catania region said in a statement. The explosion on Etna, Europe's tallest active volcano at 3,295 metres (10,810 feet), was followed by a rain of ash on the southeast crater, "where...

WASHINGTON – Sen. John McCain called Monday for reductions in carbon emissions and criticized the Bush administration for failing to lead the fight against climate change. "We have many advantages in the fight against global warming, but time is not one of them. … We stand warned by serious and credible scientists across the world that time is short and the dangers are great," the Arizona Republican said in a speech delivered at a wind-energy facility in Portland, Ore. "The most relevant question is whether our own government is equal to the challenge." McCain, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, proposed...

May 13, 2008, 0:30 a.m. McCain’s Assault on ReasonAnother Al Gore for president. By Roy Spencer John McCain’s global-warming speech on Monday made it clear that there will be no presidential candidate this year willing to question the assertion that global warming (a.k.a. “climate change�) is manmade, or the assertion that we can fix global warming by passing a few laws. Along with Clinton and Obama, McCain’s proposal to attack global warming now gives voters three choices for a car color — as long as it is black. Like Clinton and Obama, McCain’s proposal involves a “cap and trade�...

Sen. John McCain's Portland-based global warming manifesto now puts all three presidential candidates -- and both major parties' leaders -- firmly in favor of aggressive cuts to greenhouse gases. McCain's goals, including cutting greenhouse gas emissions to 1990 levels by 2020, are less aggressive than those of Sens. Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton, his potential Democratic opponents. But they're a quantum leap from the goals in his home state. Under Arizona's plan, the state's emissions would still be 35 percent above 1990 levels by 2020. And they're a bit tougher than the combined efforts of the Western Climate Initiative, a...

Link is to page containing poll on right hand side near bottom of page. So far, 38 % say "Not convinced it's true". We're winning !

The time has come for Congress to rethink ethanol, an alternative fuel that has lately fallen from favor. Specifically, it is time to end an outdated tax break for corn ethanol and to call a timeout in the fivefold increase in ethanol production mandated in the 2007 energy bill. This does not mean that Congress should give up on biofuels as an important part of the effort to reduce the country’s dependency on imported oil and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. What it does mean is that some biofuels are (or are likely to be) better than others, and that Congress...

GOP presidential nominee John McCain is using the idea of global togetherness to promote “a cap-and-trade system” to battle climate change. He said “Americans and Europeans need to get serious about substantially reducing greenhouse gas emissions in the coming years or we will hand over a much-diminished world to our grandchildren.” According to the Arizona senator, whose opinion column appeared in the March 19 Financial Times, the United States needs to work with Europe to create a replacement for the Kyoto treaty. “We need a successor to Kyoto, a cap-and-trade system that delivers the necessary environmental impact in an economically...